Chanko Nabe is a "sumo-style" hot pot dish. In Japan, sumo wrestlers eat chanko nabe every day. It's a kind like Yose Nabe (assorted ingredients hot pot), because each smo stable has various variations of Chanko Nabe recipes. But, traditionally, it's a protein-rich hot pot with chicken (symbolizes victory, because chicken stands with two feet), cabbage, and a lot of other vegetables.
I saw in a Japanese culinary magazine about "Salt & Butter Chanko Nabe" recipe from one of sumo stables, and it looked so delicious! So I made my own version of it.
Main ingredients...ground chicken mixture (for chicken meat balls), tofu, mushrooms, savoy cabbage, shungiku, carrot, etc. Condiments include trio of yuzu (quartered yuzu, sliced yuzu rind, yuzu kosho), scallion, sesame seeds, etc.
The combination of the rich chicken broth with the salt and butter was just heavenly!
As the "shime" (end of the meal), we cooked ramen with the broth. Perfect ending.
